I got this from Chester and thought it was interesting: And about some carcharodons...notes by Chester Skotak, Costa Rica Neoregelia 'Tiger' was found in Rio de Janeiro state, Estrada Marica, Itaborai on the road to Rio Bonito at the 10 km marker. The true location was first discovered by Rafael Oliveira de Faria and Chester Skotak in 2004. These plants grow on rocks or as epiphytes. When I first saw this plant growing in a very tall tree I remember thanking God that goats cant fly but in the end it didnÂt really matter. That road has now been paved and the forest severely cut, as last I heard. Neoregelia 'Macho' was grown and collected by Luiz (Luis) Correia de Araujo. He had them growing in giant clay pots around the restaurant he owned at the time. Several people brought back pups in the 90s, including me. The plant was found in Vargem Grande, Rio de Janeiro state. Neoregelia 'Silver' was being grown at Pedro NahoumÂs nursery. I spoke with him recently about this Neo and he told me he acquired the plant from Roberto Menescal. It was collected in Vargem Grande also. Neoregelia 'Rainbow' was found near Santa Maria de Madalena around 1995, Rio de Janeiro state. It was growing on rocks at the garbage dump. I was traveling with Rafael Oliveira, Pedro Nahoum, Jorge Gastin and Giorgio Croce. On this same road 2 kilometers further along we found Vriesea croceana, named in honor of Giorgio Croce. These four Neoregelia species (16 plants total) were sent to the U.S.A. by me in the 90s to: Michael Kiehl, Dennis Cathcart, Wally Berg and Harry Luther. They each received four plants, one plant of each new species. Since they were all being called carcharodon at the time, I wanted to distribute these neoregelias in hopes of getting a valid species name on them and also get them into collections. Maybe one day this group will be sorted out. It should also be noted that these species are usually not found in colonies but as individuals or only a few plants and seem to be quite rare where they are found, leaving one to wonder how they even manage to propagate in the wild.

I suspect that the urge to improve on Nature and change it from an unspoiled natural garden into a contrived human artifice must be an Anglo thing. One of the first European explorers to visit the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest, marveled about the beauty of the natural landscape, but he immediately thought about "improving" it: (Journal. June 1992) "The surrounding country, for several miles in most points of view, presented a delightful prospect, consisting chiefly of spacious meadows elegantly adorned with clumps; of trees; amongst which the oak bore a very considerable proportion, in size from four to six feet in circumference. In these beautiful pastures, bordering on and expansive sheet of water, the deer were seen playing about in great numbers. Nature had here provided the well-stocked park, and wanted only theassistance of art to constitute that desirable assemblage of surface, which is so much sought in other countries, and only to be acquired by an immoderate expense in manual labour. . . . " And how does Vancouver envision this "assistance of art"? Earlier in the Journal. when describing a similarly beautiful landscape, he makes it clear that it could be vastly improved if it were made o look like English countryside of his times: "The serenity of the climate, the innumerable pleasing landscapes, and the abundant fertility that unassisted nature puts forth, require only to be enriched by the industry of man with villages, mansions, and cottages, and other buildings to render it the most lovely country that can be imagined; . . . . " I think we have come a long way, since we (or at least some of us) can now appreciate natural "gardens" and leave them untouched by the "improving" hand of builders and gardeners.

(I actually should be doing some work but I keep putting it off, and this is a lot more fun...) The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck. Soil analysis and fertilizers, mulching, composting. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London Planting native species or native invasive plants. The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck The Daffodil Sky, H. E. Bates Daisy Miller Henry James Dangerous Liaisons Pierre Ambroise Laclos Plants that should not be grown together. The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Paul Zindel. Effects of global warming Everything That Rises Must Converge Flannery O Connor. Mass planting for colour Fences August Wilson The Flowers of Evil, Charles Baudelaire. Poisonous plants and flowers. The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower, Dylan Thomas. Spirituality for the gardener Fountains in the Rain Yukio Mishima. Landscape architecture Garden of Forking Paths, Jorge Luis Borges Hay Fever Noel Coward Holes Louis Sachar. How to control moles and other rodents. In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez. Gardening for those who want to attract hummingbirds and butterflies Jurassic Park Michael Crichton. Creatures that eat your garden and flowers while you sleep. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco Oranges are Not the Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson Shadowlands William Nicholson. Growing plants in shady places The Subject Was Roses Frank D. Gilroy The War Against the Trees, Stanley Kunitz

Just what we need in SFF, another category! I have attached a link that tries to define slipstream but after reading it, I think it is more of a writing style than anything else. I have seen many lists and the books vary...many I have never heard of but some of the lists have quite a few that I have read and consider simply "speculative fiction" like Atwood's Handmaid's Tale and one I have just lately read, City and the City. The latter was written by Mieville and I have just bought another of his, which I will be reading next. This is long but I think gives a good explanation of the different subgenres in SFF. Science Fiction & Fantasy: A Genre With Many Faces by Amy Goldschlager, Avon Eos The world of science fiction and fantasy is rich and varied. Often lumped together under the catchall term "speculative fiction," these two distinct genres encompass a number of sub-genres. Many who don't read sf/f are unaware that the two though close kin are very different. Isaac Asimov, once asked to explain the difference between science fiction and fantasy, replied that science fiction, given its grounding in science, is possible; fantasy, which has no grounding in reality, is not. The following are terms used frequently used to define elements and "sub-genres" within science fiction and fantasy literature. SPECULATIVE FICTION: A catchall term for science fiction and fantasy. It applies to work that answers the question "What if...?" Sometimes it is also applied to fiction considered more "literary" in nature that includes elements of SF or fantasy. Examples include Nicholas Christopher's Veronica and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Within science fiction, the term speculative fiction refers to novels that focus less on advances in technology and more on issues of social change, such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, George Orwell's 1984, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Jack Faust by Michael Swanwick. SCIENCE FICTION: A genre that extrapolates from current scientific trends. The technology of a science fiction story may be either the driving force of the story or merely the setting for a drama, but all science fiction tends to predict or define the future. SCI-FI: A term often used for science fiction primarily by people outside the field. Serious readers of science fiction prefer the abbreviation sf. CYBERPUNK: Cyberpunk explores the fusion between man and machine. A key element is the perfection of the Internet and virtual reality technology. In a cyberpunk novel, characters can experience and interact with computers in a 3D graphic environment so real that it feels like a physical landscape. The society in which cyberpunk is set tends to be heavily urban, and usually somewhat anarchic or feudal. The "father of cyberpunk" is William Gibson, author of the seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. Eos authors defining this ever-evolving virtual reality include Neal Stephenson...